While We're Young Ideas

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Oct 25

October 25, 2026 by Digital Sports Desk

By TERRY LYONS, Executive Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – It’s the best time of year – the Sports Equinox – when the NFL is in full swing, baseball is enjoying its Fall Classic, and the NHL and NBA are just underway. Toss in the WNBA Finals and the MLS season and you have a six pack of sports offerings. Add College Football and (soon-to-be) College Basketball with exhibitions ongoing, NASCAR Cup, the Premiership from England, and next week’s Breeders’ Cup horse racing extravaganza, and you’ve got something for everyone. Now, add the PGA Tour which is puttering away in Bermuda or NASCAR rip-roaring away at Talladega, and you’ve got it all.

And, just think! In nine days, all of the political ads will be gone.

All of the action is enough to make a sports fan move to Las Vegas, just to see all the games at once in the incredible Circa Sports Book.

There’s a couple of the sports listed in our equinox that aren’t getting their proper due. The two being short-changed are Major League Baseball with the 2026 World Series and the WNBA Finals, featuring the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream.

First – Baseball:

Let’s remember. For the entire 2026 season, the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers were atop their respective league ladder and the best two teams come postseason time. Tampa went 98-64, good enough to be 4.5 games ahead of the second-ranked New York Yankees.

In the National League, the Brewers went 103-59, three full games better than the Los Angeles Dodgers (100-62). Both teams finished on an (8-2) run.

In the postseason, they proved their worth.

The Brewers’ pitching staff finished the regular season with a 3.51 ERA and a 1.18 whip. Jacob Misiorowski, the Brewers’ ace pitched to a league leading 1.73 ERA with 227 strikeouts. He’s regularly throwing 103 mph four seam fastballs. His whip registered at 0.80 and he forced his opponents to bat a filthy .157 over 174 innings pitched.

The Brewers’ rotation of Misiorowski, Kyle Henderson, Aaron Ashby and Logan Henderson form a very respectable rotation of semi-no-names (outside of the great place on the Great Lake).

Tampa sports the best overall pitching crew in baseball.

Drew Rasmussen, Ian Seymour, and Nick Martinez have carried the load after Shane McClanahan (left forearm tightness) was shut down for the season. That brought Freddy Peralta into the mix after his midseason trade.

On the offensive side, the teams are mirror images of themselves and they’ve shown they can hold on and win games. They each manufacture runs, take advantage of miscues of their opponent and can win games in the 3-2 fashion of Game 1 of the World Series.

When you put all of those basics together, you have a model match-up and one of the very best World Series that very few fans outside of Milwaukee and Tampa-St. Pete will see. And, that’s a crying shame.

At the WNBA Finals, it’s much the same.

Golden State (32-12) finished one game behind Western Conference leader in the Minnesota Linx (33-11). The Dream topped the East at (30-14). The clubs were mirror images in terms of home-road records during the season.

After the Valkyries took Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, the Dream reversed the trends and went up 2-games-to-1. On Saturday (Oct. 24), the Valkyries evened it up, 2-2.

One major issue facing the WNBA and its Finals is the fact the series is being played in mid-to-late October, head to head with the NFL, College Football, the World Series and everything else. Saturday’s game was held at 1:00pm in Atlanta in the heart of the south and its love of college football. While the Georgia Bulldogs had a bye week, the vast number of SEC and ACC teams were in action, including Georgia Tech hosting Boston College in an ACC match-up at Tech.

Out West, only Cal at SMU might’ve caused a distraction now that the PAC-10 (12) was blown to bits and Stanford beat NC State in that Friday night ACC tilt alongside Palo Alto.

Regardless of the competition, the WNBA Finals is providing fans with a high brand of basketball. But, it’s been done in relative obscurity. With the series tied 2-2, there will be added awareness and interest in the outcome.

Maybe the original WNBA game plan of a Memorial Day to Labor Day schedule might be re-examined?

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Back to MLB, the battle of the small market cities (Milwaukee and Tampa, as compared to New York, Los Angeles or Chicago), makes it difficult for the Major League Baseball team owners to claim they need to change the mechanism of delivering team salaries. If the Milwaukee Bucks and Tampa Bay Rays can put together a team at bargain basement prices, why should the MLB Players’ Association worry about what the Dodgers or Yankees pay their players? … The NBA season is off to a good start and some momentum following a tremendous ‘26 NBA Playoffs and a busy and interesting offseason. Tuesday’s 76ers-Knicks and Thunder-Spurs doubleheader was the NBA’s most-watched opening night ever, averaging 6.41 million viewers on NBC/Peacock. The 76ers’ victory over the Knicks was the league’s most-watched primetime opening night game ever, averaging 7.71 million viewers and peaking at 9.1 million viewers at 9:45pm (ET).

ESPN’s NBA Opening Wednesday doubleheader averaged 2.5M viewers, up 7% from last year, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel. The audience ranks as ESPN’s second most-viewed Opening Wednesday ever.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: Don’t look now but the Edmonton Oilers are 8-1-1 going into Saturday’s home game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Oilers are 5-0-0 on the road. … Sunday’s matchup of St. John’s hosting Texas will be the Storm’s third exhibition game of the preseason. The Johnnies downed Drexel, 81-52, on Oct. 14 at Carnesecca Arena before outlasting Rutgers, 104-99, in a four-overtime marathon this past Sunday at Madison Square Garden. … The Texas Legends selected 2026 NBA champion Jeremy Sochan (6-8, 230, Baylor) with the first overall pick in the 2026 NBA G League Draft, which was held virtually on Saturday. During the 2025-26 season, Sochan played 28 games with the San Antonio Spurs and 16 games with the New York Knicks. In 228 career NBA games across four seasons, the 23-year-old averaged 9.9 points and 5.4 rebounds. The Motor City Cruise drafted Isaiah Carr (6-11, 235, Drake) with the second overall pick and the Osceola Magic selected Kasean Pryor (6-10, 228, Louisville) third overall. … Can’t say which is worse. MLB deciding regular season games by placing a ghost runner at 2B or the College Football overtime rules.

CUSP PODCAST with MIKE BREEN: Celebrating 20 years for Columbia University’s sports management program and 40 years of New York’s very own (via Fordham) Mike Breen, the voice of the NBA Finals and the NBA on ABC/ESPN.

THIS JEST IN: The Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints will play their regular season game Sunday (today, October 25) in Paris. It’ll (hopefully) be the first NFL regular season game in France. While the people of Paris and Marseilles worry about their cities burning amidst protests, Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers seem to be more concerned with jet lag. … The Saints headed for Paris last Sunday, deciding to get a full week of practice and adjusting to the time zone/jet lag. Pittsburgh opted to travel from the USA and land in Paris on Friday, a “cutting-it-tight” tactic employed by the LA Rams earlier this season when they opened up in Melbourne, Australia. Of course, the Rams were smoked 27-7 by the San Francisco 49ers who flew much earlier in the week.

The thought process of Rams coach Sean McVay was to stay on Pacific time, rather than attempt to make a big, week-long adjustment. That strategy backfired.

A basic concept to go by, after years and years of experience traveling to time zones all over the world, is to not make a “big deal” about it. The bigger deal the front office, coaches and advisors make of the travel, the more it gets into the players’ heads.

That works in both directions.

When the NBA first began its international regular season efforts with the NBA Japan Games 1990, the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz made the trip, with the teams splitting the two games. Both clubs did quite well in their travels to the games.

The issue was the return, when Utah complained about returning jet lag all the way to Christmas. After winning their first game after returning, the Jazz dropped four straight. Truth be told, the Jazz ran off five consecutive victories from November 21 to 30, then after a lone loss at Portland, they won another six straight from December 3 to 13. They finished 54-18.

YOU CAN’T MAKE IT UP: Britt McHenry, the disgraced former ESPN sideline reporter, is in hot water again after being caught on video dousing a fan with her drink at the Milwaukee at Washington basketball game. The video went viral and she was soon-after asked to resign her post at the Trump-Rubio led State Department where she held a role as press advisor. The Mt Holly, NJ native and Stetson/Northwestern grad, did a stint with ESPN from 2014-17 but that ended abrubtly when she was, again, caught on a security video berating a parking lot attendant after McHenry had illegally parked her car and it ended up in the clink. In 2020, she battled a serious brain lesion and had it surgically removed at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. That escape sent her to the political realm and an ill-fated PR role that is no longer. With her credentials tainted, she might be the perfect fit for White House press spokesperson doing a daily brief now that Katie Zacharia has had her 14 minutes of fame.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Oct 18

October 18, 2026 by Digital Sports Desk

Columbia U’s Scott Rosner Interviewing Sheikha Asmaa bint Thani A M Al-Thani (Photo by T. Peter Lyons/ Digital Sports Desk)

By TERRY LYONS

NEW YORK – Sports seminars are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.

That might sound familiar to a longtime movie-goers who remember Robert Zemeckis’ “Forrest Gump” in about 1994, as dear Forrest was quoting his mother’s viewpoint on life during a crucial moment of the Academy Award winning film.

The same quote fits with the various sports marketing seminars staged by major media outlets, sports trade outlets (online and magazine form), pro sports leagues, thought-leadership think tanks or even the many colleges and universities of the world with majors or masters degrees in sports management. Those are staged by the some of the finest institutions in the land – from MIT Sloan Business School to Wharton (UPenn) to Columbia University, New York City’s IVY League entry.

In far too many cases, the seminars dance together with one or two day agendas all blending into a sports marketing blur.

Most make the attempt to cover the flavor of the month topics, such as legalized sports gambling in the USA, the NIL crush on collegiate sports, performance enhancing/monitoring wearables, advanced statistics and analysis, and the most recent – being A.I. (for artificial intelligence). They’re all interesting and worthwhile topics in an ever-changing landscape of sports business.

That is good.

Usually, the ‘grand-daddy of them all’ – the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference – blows away the competition with a two-day extravaganza that grew from a relatively small on-campus gathering to a massive and always sold-out monstrous multi-topic, multi-discipline extravaganza at one of Boston’s two large convention centers – usually the Mayor Tom Menino Center at The Seaport.

To a great extent, everyone else plays for the silver medal of sports business seminars, and that includes wonderful and informative efforts by The Sports Business Journal, its parent company (Leaders of London), and more recently Sportico. The SBJ stages the World Congress of Sports (usually in LA), Game-Changers (focusing on women in sports), Deal Makers (a one-day, rather intimate gathering of investment opportunists of sport, Sports Tech focused seminars, New Voices (U-30), the Intercollegiate Athletics Forum, Forty Under Forty, Brand Innovation and a year-ending Sports Business Awards – black tie event to celebrate the very best in sports for each calendar year.

Of course there are others – far too many to list or even try to rank as a top ten.

That said, there is now a solid No. 2 in the ranking and it is the Columbia University School of Professional Studies Sports Management Conference – a one-day event held at Lerner Hall and the Roone Arledge Auditorium on campus at 114th Street & Broadway on the Upper West Side of New York City, also known as Morningside Heights.

The 2026 rendition was held this past Thursday, October 15 from 9am to 5pm and Columbia celebrated its 20th year in the sports management eco system.

Its agenda was wide-ranging and magnificent, to say the least. Topics ranged from “Beyond the Game: Capturing the Cultural Connection” in sports to Deloitte’s Global Sports Industry Outlook to a home grown look at some of the Columbia grads who are shaping the current sports business landscape.

There was an interesting look at the NFL’s endeavor into Flag Football, told from league office to team to participant’s point-of-view. They passed the torch to the USOC & Paralympic committee CEO, Sarah Hirshland, who ran with it, then passed off to Nielsen’s global head of sports execs.

There was a one-on-one with former New York Rangers Stanley Cup champion goalkeepers, Mike Richter, who sat with Maryland and NBA star Len Elmore (now turned TV commentator and part-time sports lawyer Len Elmore.

The final presentation was a panel discussion that, quite frankly, blew us all away as they delved into the crazy and wonderful world of sports memorabilia (as a business). Even SBJ veteran Terry Lefton, the moderator was taken back by some of the valuations of everything from traditional memorabilia such as Trading Cards to authentic and autographed merchandise and game-worn uniforms to the far reaching world of first edition Harry Potter books. It was interesting, to say the least, especially when (Fanatics) Michael Rubin clone, Josh Luber, now the CEO of ghostwrite, reached into his bag of tricks and started tossing memorabilia into the sparse crowd that was smart enough to stick around for the final presentation of the long day.

In true sense of burying the lead, there were two other key sessions.

Columbia U professor and moderator Michael Neuman led a 45-minute panel discussion entitled, The Experience Effect: Turning Moments Into Meaning. Panelists included, Bettina Garibaldi, the recent Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for FIFA World Cup 2026 and their NY/NJ Host Committee, Ed Horne, an industry veteran (a la NFL, NHL), now the Chief Operating Officer of “On Location,” Jackie Riggleman, the impressive senior project manager for Canopy Team – an agency where she recently oversaw the strategy for Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB) efforts at PNC Park in Pitt, along with their Spring Training and Dominican-based facilities. In her spare time, before her time with the Pirates, Riggleman was an instrumental part of the team that opened Monongalia County Ballpark, home of the West Virginia University Mountaineers and West Virginia Black Bears. Batting clean-up was Danny Zausner, the COO of the United States Tennis Association and its National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow, Queens, NY.

Neuman held the lofty title as the leader of “most interesting discussion” for all of 20 minutes, and then Columbia University’s head of the sports management program Scott Rosner took the stage to introduce a keynote speaker, Sheikha Asmaa bint Thani A M Al-Thani, ID’d as the Director of Marketing and International Cooperation Sector for the Qatar Olympic Committee.

Everyone stopped in their tracks. It was “you can hear a pin drop” territory as Rosner gradually drew-out the fact Ms. Al Thani is a Qatari mountaineer who is the first Qatari woman to summit Mount Everest, Lhotse, and Manaslu, K2 as well as the first Qatari female to climb Ama Dablam. She is also the first Qatari person to ski to the North Pole. On her ascent of Manaslu, she became the first Arab person to summit an eight-thousander (8,000 metres (26,247 ft) in elevation) without oxygen. She climbed Lhotse for the second time in May 2024, without using supplemental oxygen, becoming the first Arab to climb two 8000ers without supplemental oxygen.

All of the Earth’s eight-thousanders are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia, and their summits lie in the altitude range known as the death zone, where atmospheric oxygen pressure is insufficient to sustain human life for extended periods of time.

Give me a break, right?

It’s not gonna end there.

In 2013, Al Thani found a bucket list she had written several years before, which included the resolution of climbing a mountain. She began training shortly afterwards and in 2014 she was part of a group of climbers who were the first Qatari women to summit Kilimanjaro. In 2018 she became the first Qatari person to ski to the North Pole and she raised her country’s flag there on April 21. She was part of an all-female Euro-Arabian Polar expedition, which was led by Felicity Aston who was the first woman to travel unaided across the Antarctic mainland. As a result she was recognised as “Woman of the Year” by Grazia magazine which is published in Qatar. In 2019, Al Thani became the first Qatari woman to summit Aconcagua.

On November 8, 2021 she became the Qatari first woman to reach the summit of Ama Dablam. Earlier that year, she summited Mount Elbrus in Russia, and Dhaulagiri and the eighth highest mountain, Manaslu in Nepal. As a result of her climb on Manaslu she became the first Arab to reach the summit of one of the highest mountains (an eight-thousander) without the use of oxygen. She became the first Qatari woman to summit Ama Dablam in Nepal, and then climbed Mount Vinson in January 2022.

On May 9, 2022, she became first Arab to climb Kangchenjunga.

Al Thani reached the summit of Everest on May 27, 2022. On that journey, she and her team carried a football created by adidas for the FIFA World Cup Qatar to the summit of Everest.

Named ‘Al Rihla’ which means ‘the journey’, the ball was the World Cup’s first Arabic match’s official ball. She went on to reach the summit of Lhotse on May 28, 2022 and K2 in July 2022. Al Thani climbed Denali, her sixth of the seven summits on 17 June 17, 2022.

Add it up, and it’s 11 of the highest 14 summits in the world.

And, oh, by the way, she is also a member of the ruling family of Qatar, and in meeting her after the panel, she is about as down-to-earth a person as anyone you’ve ever met. Down-to-earth seems a bit of a common phrase for people, because – please remember – for every eight-thousander climbed, she had to get down, as well. She had to come back down to earth.

On one trip, her team leader actually thanked her for her monumental decision to stop and turn back after a couple days or horrendous weather. The team leader would’ve pushed on if it was his client’s wish.

On another, she actually called it quits … as in, she had come to the realization she was so sick and tired that she would need to simply sit down, and by doing so, she would – most likely – end her own life.

She described one harrowing experience.

“After seven days in base camp, we pushed on,” she began. “I had a team with me, a very strong team. We had a rotation, as the weather was not favorable. The weather was providing two days, but my body was not ‘doing well.’ I was very sick, but I still wanted to push to get to that summit.

“As I was going up, our push was taking longer than expected. The rope team decided and turned around, so my team had to help fix the ropes. As we climbed, I was getting sicker and sicker, and the weather was beginning to turn.

“I told my guide, he should turn around, but he said, ‘We need to go,’ and you need to push. We continued to climb, but the sickness was causing (vomit) and stomach pain. About 100 metres from the summit, I sat down. My guide told me, if I sit down, I would begin to lose body function. I told my guide, he needed to go.”

I said, “No, I don’t think I’m going to go and, if you stay here with me, you’re going to die.

“For a moment there, it seemed easier to stay than to continue down that mountain. It was about 19 hours, non-stop. No food. In my head, I figured it was 14 hours down. I didn’t think I had it in me. I will just go here and it will be easier.

“My guide looked at me, and I said to him, ‘I’m tired,’ and he simply said, ‘I’m tired, too.’ At that moment, I realized he’s tired, I’m tired, so we must do this together. I got back up and we continued to go back down the mountain.

“After that time, I did not climb for a year. I asked myself, ‘Why should I push myself beyond my capabilities. Why should I push myself to the extent that I was ready to stay on that mountain?

“Once I realized that, I returned to the point and I was ready to climb again. And, that I needed to do it in the right way. I realized that I was not climbing to get to the summit. I was climbing to get to know who I am.

“I knew I had to get myself in the right physical condition and the right mental condition, but I will not push myself beyond that point.”

Amazing.

Come August 27 to September 12, 2027, Sheikha Asmaa bint Thani A M Al-Thani will be welcoming the USA Basketball senior national team and the other 31 men’s national teams who qualify for the 2027 FIBA World Cup basketball tournament in Qatar. It will be the first FIBA Basketball World Cup to be held in the Arab/Middle East world, and the third straight to be held in Asia as Qatar is under FIBA’s Asian region.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The Boston Celtics announced the signing of an extension for their 2024 NBA Champion and 2024-25 NBA Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the deal was widely reported as being a two-year extension for $44.2 million. His current, four-year deal was for $30m.

“Payton’s a very good player who has put in the time and added to his game each season that he’s been in Boston,” said President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens. “He’s just a flat-out winner, whose toughness, commitment to team, and work ethic are all elite. We’re thrilled that he’s chosen to extend with the C’s.”

Pritchard, the Celtics’ second-longest-tenured player, is entering his seventh NBA season after averaging career highs of 17.0 points, 5.2 assists, and 3.9 rebounds in 32.4 minutes per game across 79 appearances (50 starts) during the 2025-26 campaign. The 28-year-old tallied 27 20-point games last season, including six games with 30+ points, while shooting 46.4 percent from the field, 37.7 percent from 3-point range, and 89.0 percent from the free-throw line. Pritchard has appeared in 426 career games (67 starts) across six seasons with the Celtics.

In breaking news, Pope Leo has left the hospital (in Rome) and will be back in action to root on his Villanova Wildcats of the BIG EAST.

SPALKING HEADS: In sports-biz news, Spalk, a cloud-based commentary and technology platform scaling multilingual commentary for teams, leagues and broadcast partners, announced its largest North American sports expansion, adding more non-English global partnerships with the NFL and the NBA as the fall progresses. The NBA expansion will include the first-ever remote broadcasts in seven languages for NBA on Prime, while the NFL expansion now includes live commentary in five additional languages never offered before.

“We have come a long way from launching the business in a New Zealand dorm room in 2015, and there is no better proof of concept than what we are now doing with a growing number of North American leagues, particularly the NFL and the NBA,” said Ben Reynolds oo-founder and CEO at Spalk. “The best way to reach consumers and make them fans on a global level is to give them the excitement of the live event in their own language, and we have refined the technology so that delivery, consistency and professionalism of talent is at a premium. By employing the largest group of multilingual talent literally everywhere in the world, we can assure that the leagues, our growing list of broadcast partners and most importantly the fans, are literally being heard and enjoying real-time multilingual broadcasts every day, with more to come.”

This season, Spalk will provide NBA broadcasts in Greek, Portuguese, Turkish, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian and Korean using their qualifying list of talent. For NBA on Prime, coverage will cover Friday doubleheaders with 28 different commentators on one night across the two games. Twice this season there will be triple header broadcasts. That will require 42 commentators in one day across three games.

TID-BITS & NUGGETS: Attention all NBA prop people: The NBA will be restricting player props via sportsbook partners such as Draft Kings and Fan Duel. The league-mandated restrictions will include bets on players who will score the first basket of a game and parlays built around statistical unders for players expected to see limited playing time. The player prop prohibitions, which take effect this season, were outlined in a letter to sportsbook operators and a memo to all NBA teams. The restrictions will also apply to the WNBA next season. … The prop that’s more fun in gaming is the “last basket” (FG or 3-point FG – no FTs). … Same goes for “last touchdown,” with credit to receivers not QBs and no field goals or extra point action at all.

NEXT SUNDAY: The famed Spanish soccer matchup El Clásico, featuring Real Madrid vs. F.C. Barcelona will be on next Sunday, October 25th. To their credit, the MLS schedule-maker has home team LA Galaxy vs. LAFC on the very same date (25 October) at 9:00pm (ET/6:00pm (local) at BMO Stadium.. That matchup? El Trafico.

THE NBA POWER RANKINGS: Heading into the NBA regular season openers (this Tuesday, October 20) with (3pm Boston at Detroit), (7pm Philadelphia at New York complete with Ring Ceremony and banner raising pregame at Madison Square Garden), and (9:30pm OKC at San Antonio), there’s a consensus study of media predictions for the best teams in the league. VSiN compiled a bunch for its preseason NBA guide. Here are the results:

NBA Team, Power Ranking #

OKLAHOMA CITY 104.0

SAN ANTONIO 103.5

NEW YORK 103.0

PHILADELPHIA 101.5

BOSTON 101.0

DENVER 101.0

DETROIT 101.0

MINNESOTA 101.0

CLEVELAND 100.5

LA LAKERS 100.5

KEEP AN 👀 ON: The Atlanta Hawks, the return of the Indiana Pacers and the new and improved Utah Jazz.

ON THE COLLEGE FRONT: Longtime readers know, WWYI has gone to the length of picking a full NCAA men’s basketball tournament bracket in the preseason. That has become increasingly harder with the fact the vast amount of Top 25 college basketball teams turnover their rosters via the transfer portal, adding veteran international players and – now – rarely landing a great high school prospect. Most coaches prefer the veteran 22-year old over an 18-year old first year, right out of the State high school tournaments and AAU summer ball.

Rather than a full bracket, how about a basic college basketball preseason …

Top 10

Florida
Duke
UConn
Illinois
Texas
Michigan St.
Arizona
Miami
Louisville
Virginia

Worth watching: Kansas, Houston, St. John’s, Michigan, UCLA, Kentucky, Alabama, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Iowa St.

Pat LaFontaine raises $millions for his Companions in Courage fund

PEACE OUT: The Nobel Prizes are among the world’s most prestigious honors. There are honors for Laureates in the categories of medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, economics and peace. Why isn’t there a prize for sports? … It would not be a typical community relations or most valuable player type award, as the respective leagues take care of that with all kinds of different honors. … The very first Nobel Prize for Sports might go to:

Dikembe Mutombo (posthumously)
Roberto Clemente (posthumously)
Serena Williams
Neymar
David Beckham
Jordan Spieth
Pat LaFontaine

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Oct 11

October 11, 2026 by Digital Sports Desk

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – The seasons, they are a’changing. Frost has already set in on the Mums. The firewood has been ordered and it better be delivered real soon because we’re going to need it within a week or two. College and Pro football are hitting stride, the NHL is underway and college ice hockey has begun.

Soon? It’ll be the NBA regular season (October 20) and the start of college basketball.

Ten games into the college and NBA seasons, there’ll be time for an educated, in-depth look-see at the contenders and pretenders, but now it’s time to focus on uncertainty.

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Uncertainty – as in – St. John’s has two players in the midst of different lawsuits against the NCAA. At the moment, St. John’s is relying on the various legal avenues, including lawsuits and injunctions, to secure playing time for athletes impacted by recent changes to NCAA participation rules. These two rulings will be critical for determining the Storm’s starting rotation and overall depth heading into the winter.

For Johnnie’s recruit Babacar Sane, he is in total limbo and currently abiding by a four-game green light to play while his case moves forward in teh legal system. His eligibility remains a focal point of the team’s Top 20 legitimacy as he pursues a permanent ruling regarding his prior involvement with the G League Ignite.

For Keyshawn Hall, his status is a bit more up in the air. He is actively contesting his status in court, arguing for fifth-year eligibility under the newly implemented “5-in-5” age-based model. St. John’s efforts to secure injunctive relief for Hall have shifted to New York after his previous attempts to gain eligibility through the Ohio court system were effectively blocked. By filing the lawsuit in Queens, where St. John’s is located, his representatives are attempting to bypass the hurdles encountered in his previous jurisdiction and secure a favorable ruling before the team’s season opener against Monmouth University on November 2nd. The hearing is scheduled for October 13.

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Those two upcoming legal hearings for the players will dictate the final makeup of the roster, which Pitino hopes will be fully available to compete in a highly competitive conference.

In mid-summer, St. John’s took two significant off-season hits.

The loss of transfer portal bonanza Donnie Freeman dealt a significant blow to all of St. John’s expectations shortly before the team was scheduled to report for offseason workouts. After transferring from Syracuse with high marks, the talented forward suffered a non-contact ruptured Achilles tendon during an individual training session in July. Freeman was expected to start for coach Rick Pitino.

The other, one of the international roster additions, was caught in an unexpected US State Department shift as 6-foot-6 Djordije Jovanovic was unable to complete his planned move to the United States. Despite an initial agreement that would have brought the player to Queens, he was ultimately blocked by logistical hurdles regarding his travel documentation. The visa-related travel issues made it impossible for him to join the team in time for the season, leading both parties to agree that he should stay with his club in Podgori (Montenegro).

Jovanovic previously obtained US clearance when he played 44 games for the (minor league) G-League Ontario Clippers (California) between 2022-24.

While St. John’s will channel the movement and nurse the recuperation of three of those players, it seems Jovanovic is out. That’s a serious set-back as he was a key contributor for Montenegro during the 2023 FIBA U-20 European Championship, where he served as a primary offensive option for his junior national team squad.

Meanwhile, the University of Connecticut (co-winners of the 2026 BIG EAST) are stacked and ranked No. 10 in the nation and No. 1 in the Big East.

Keep an eye out for Tuesday’s count proceedings and potential ruling.

BLUE RIBBON MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOP 25 for ‘26-27: Here’s a look at the preseason prognostications for the PRESEASON TOP 25 – (Blue Ribbon is a MUST PURCHASE – LINK IS HERE.

1. Florida

2. Duke

3. Illinois

4. Michigan State

5. Arizona

6. Tennessee

7. Texas

8. Houston

9. Arkansas

10. Connecticut

11. Vanderbilt

12. Michigan

13. Miami

14. Missouri

15. Virginia

16. Kansas

17. Iowa State

18. Louisville

19. Kentucky

20. St. John’s

21. Alabama

22. USC

23. Gonzaga

24. Ohio State

25. North Carolina

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: LOUIE, LOUIE: They’ll need the ghost of Richard Berry (1935-1997) to honor the great Coach Lou Carnesseca in song if St. John’s can eventually build an on-campus arena (see top of the column) that would house a handful of men’s games that aren’t played at The Mecca – Madison Square Garden, but would create a tremendous facility for women’s basketball and other indoor sports. It’s been years-and-years of talk about building a modern facility at Union Turpike & Utopia Parkway, and the likes of legends Mel Davis and Billy Schaeffer spent even longer trying to raise the money to get a suitable building funded and built. But, recently, St. John’s Athletic Director Ed Kull posted this dream of an artists’ rendition. (Note the retired number of “23” – as Bill Wennington must’ve been on their mind.

A SERIOUS – RIP FOR … DITKA! – Guessing LT and Tom Brady deserve mention, but for my money, there are no better three football players EVER than Sayers, Butkis and Ditka (changed TE position/great coach. Ditka = five Pro Bowls, Super Bowl wins as head coach (‘85 Bears, plus as a player and assistant coach for Dallas Cowboys) and Pro Football Hall of Fame, first ever inductee as a Tight End.

Adam Schefter@AdamSchefter

ESPN’s tribute to the one and only Mike Ditka:

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: The College Football Playoff (CFP’s) communications arm issued the following update regarding discussions with ESPN on a potential playoff expansion to 24 teams:

“While Friday, October 9 marked the end of the exclusive 30-day negotiating period with ESPN, we continue to have ongoing discussions with ESPN regarding media rights connected to potential playoff expansion to 24 teams. The dialogue throughout the window has been constructive, and we will carry these conversations forward with ESPN as we determine the path ahead. Given the confidential nature of these discussions, there isn’t more to share at this time. We will provide additional updates when appropriate.”

QUESTION 68? The Athletic reported, “Out of 68 schools in the Power Four conferences, Boston College was estimated to be spending the least on its football roster.” According to the Boston Globe, “The Eagles haven’t finished above .500 in the Atlantic Coast Conference since 2009. Last year, they were 2-10 overall. But after that dismal season, the athletic department pledged to spend more to compete for talent — across all sports, not just football. BC officials, disputing the figures cited in the report by The Athletic, say they’ve lived up to that promise.”

THE WNBA FINALS matchup is set between Atlanta Dream and the Golden State Valkyries. Atlanta advanced to the league’s Finals for the first time since 2013, completing a 3-0 sweep of New York behind 22 points from Angel Reese in an 85-83 Game 3 win. The Valkyries became the first expansion team to reach the WNBA Finals within its first two seasons, completing a three-game sweep of the defending champion Las Vegas Aces on Friday night. The Valkyries will face the Dream in the best-of-seven series that begins Saturday, Oct. 17 at Golden State (SF). Atlanta reached the WNBA Finals in 2010, 2011 and 2013, but got swept each time. The series can go until Oct. 31 if it were to need seven games to decide a champion.

TIME HAS COME TODAY: Look who graces the current issue of TIME Magazine. While fantasy sports players might opt to draft Denver’s Nicola Jokic or San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama with the first overall pick, NBA GMs are more likely to favor the all-around game of the incredible Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the OKC Thunder.

“I think I’m the best player in the NBA,” he says. “I think the production that I have night in and night out is best-player-in-the-NBA production. I think the efficiency that I do it at is best-player-in-the-NBA efficiency. I think everybody picks up a basketball or a soccer ball or a football or a tennis ball to win the game, the match, whatever it is. And I’ve done my fair share of winning in these past couple years,” says the pull quotes of the cover story in TIME. You can read the full story at Shai in Time.

WHAT DO YOU PREDICT? – The NFL is urging the Supreme Court to rule on the regulation of prediction markets after the league accounted for $1.8 billion in trading volume on the first Sunday of this season alone, arguing that states are better positioned to oversee sports-related contracts “given the current landscape.”

The NFL filed a brief in support of New Jersey’s request for a high court decision on the governing authority for prediction markets, which provide an opportunity to trade — or wager — on the result of future events, according to Associated Press and multiple gaming media sites.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has maintained it has exclusive jurisdiction, while states have argued that the array of typically yes-or-no questions is akin to gambling and falls under their purview.

“Absent the clarity that only this Court can provide, (prediction market) operators will continue exploiting the gap between state and federal regulation, endangering consumers and the integrity of sports events across the country,” lawyers for the NFL wrote in their brief to the Court.

“Any delay from the Court will result in increasing consumer harm and risk to game integrity,” the NFL continued in its brief.

Kalshi spokeswoman Elisabeth Diana said its top priority is market integrity, and she pointed to its partnerships with the NHL, Major League Baseball and other sports organizations as evidence.

“Contrary to the NFL’s statements, the CFTC is actively policing sports-related markets, which are now listed on nearly every U.S. commodities exchange,” Diana said.

THIS JEST IN: Disgraced former CBS Sports NFL commentator and Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo will not have a pro golf gig to fill the time lost after being dismissed by the suits at CBS. The recently departed Romo was disqualified from the final round of a Korn Ferry pre-qualifier tournament, held October 2, coincidentally the same day he parted ways with CBS over his July operating while intoxicated (OWI) arrest.

Romo, who was attempting to make the cut for the Korn Ferry Tour, was accused of signing his score card with the wrong scores on two holes, per Golf.com.

Romo reportedly signed for a 4 on 16 and a 4 on 17 on his own scorecard. Problem was, his marker, Brandon Rice, had Romo marked down for a 4 on 16 and a 5 on 17. And when another pro reviewed Romo’s score, that pro believed Romo actually shot a 5 and a 5.

When contacted, Romo reportedly took responsibility for the error. Since he signed for a lower score than he should have received, Romo was automatically disqualified from the event.

Fore!

Remember, there’s always flag football.

CAN’T MAKE IT UP: According to the Associated Press, Andrew Bailey knew enough about the U.S. Open, this past summer, that late Friday afternoon was an ideal time to sneak away from his duties in the merchandise pavilion and watch golf. He was outside the ropes at Shinnecock Hills (Long Island) this year to see 17-year-old Miles Russell grind to make the cut.

And then it was back to work in a 34,000-square-foot tent where his company, premium golf apparel brand Holderness & Bourne, sets up shop each year.

Bailey will be back at the U.S. Open next year at Pebble Beach in a far different capacity — hitting shots, not selling shirts.

“I’ve been trying to process it all,” Bailey said Monday evening, four days removed from winning the U.S. Mid-Amateur by playing bogey-free over the final 17 holes in a 5-and-4 victory. His first USGA title gets him into the Masters and U.S. Open.

Bailey tied for 38th in Q-school PGA Tour Canada in April 2015 to earn conditional status but never played on the PGA Tour. Three months later, he fell 20 feet while rock climbing at Whipps Ledges in Ohio, causing a compound fracture of his wrist that required two plates and 11 screws.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Oct. 4th

October 4, 2026 by Digital Sports Desk

By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – On September 28, the United States Senate issued the following statement:

On September 28th, with a large bipartisan vote of 77-22, the Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act (S.4668), authored by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz(R-Texas) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). This bill is a major step toward ending the chaos and uncertainty plaguing college sports and providing student athletes, fans, schools, and coaches desperately needed relief. The bill now moves to the House of Representatives.

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Cruz was quoted in the statement saying, “Today is a monumental day for college athletics. The United States Senate voted to protect the hundreds of thousands of student athletes currently competing in college sports, the millions who will follow in their footsteps, and every college sports fan who wants to preserve this great American tradition for generations to come. After years of discussions and months of intense deliberations, we achieved what many said was impossible and succeeded in getting the Protect College Sports Act through the Senate with a huge bipartisan vote. I am proud of our success, and I trust the House of Representatives will remain focused on bringing stability to college sports by delivering the Protect College Sports Act to President Trump’s desk without delay.”

The Bill faces two major hurdles:

The House of Representatives is not in session. The broken branch of lawmakers took an eight-week recess (September 16-November 9). While pundits claimed the break was to allow Congress to return to home districts to campaign for the upcoming mid-term elections, the truth was that Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, took the drastic measure to avoid a prominent call introduced by Republican Representative Thomas Massie to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Additionally, there is little to no guarantee that the House will vote on the Bill as it currently exists, and if they do, it might not pass.
While Cruz lauds the Bill for its supposed protection of collegiate athletes, there are quite a few athletes, and their legal representatives, who believe the Bill is not in the best interest of the athletes as it limits Name, Image and Likeness earnings and limits the number of years a student can remain eligible. Previously and consistently, Courts across the land have ruled for extra college eligibility years for various reasons.

According to legal expert Darren Heitner, after issuing the news release, Cruz spent the next two days insisting the momentum (of the Senate passing the Bill) would carry across the Capitol. He told (anyone who would listen) that he has held “extensive conversations” with Speaker Mike Johnson, that he still expects the House to return before the election, and that “the House can pass this in one day.” Jake Sherman’s reporting says otherwise. House Republican leadership says there is no chance members come back for the bill, that leadership doubts it could even get enough members back, that the bill is not a priority five weeks before an election, and that leadership is not confident it could get through the Rules Committee. The House is not scheduled to return until early November (Nov. 9).

Cruz certainly knows the truth of the matter, so you wonder what his motive can be in outright lying? Or, is he simply dreaming?

Marc Edelman, a tenured law professor at Baruch, a sports ethics director, Fulbright Scholar and Sports, Gaming & Antitrust Attorney, urged reporters to stop accepting what the Bill’s advocates say it does and, instead, examine the incentives each advocate actually has. “It doesn’t take a lot of intellect to understand that this Bill was never primarily about athletes, Olympic sports, or women’s sports, but about a handful of powerful constituencies each walking away with something it wanted, while the athletes who generate the revenue were subordinated,” noted Edelman.

On the surface, there’s a fundamental flaw which the Senate seemed to ignore.

The athletes will have various limitations put forth, including income and length of service.
The college administrators, coaches, school Presidents, and staff have no such limitations on their salary nor their own length of service.

Instead? There seems to be an incentive to return college athletics to the ‘way it used to be’ before all of these new rules and lawsuits changed the landscape beloved by so many fans who love the bands, the cheerleaders while looking the other way as the NCAA pocketed billions while the players in each and every sport compete with a college scholarship held over their heads as compensation.

Edelman also notes, “The NCAA’s Charlie Baker shows his incentive with the least speculation. The NCAA has been asking Congress for antitrust protection since the Supreme Court made clear in 2021 that it enjoys none. This Bill delivers it, shielding the NCAA, the conferences, the schools, and the College Sports Commission from federal suits over the enforcement of compensation, transfer, and eligibility rules. Critics have pointed out that the Bill’s protections for women’s sports sunset after nine years while the antitrust exemption never expires. When one party’s benefit is permanent, and the other’s is temporary, the drafters have told you which provision is the point.”

Proponents of the Bill note, “(The Bill has the) support of 32 collegiate athletic conferences and more than 380 colleges and universities across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Additional endorsements for the bill include: the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the players associations for the NFL and the NBA, the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), FBS Athletics Directors Association, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), Team USA Athletes’ Commission (Team USA AC), and National Governing Body Council (NGBC).

Others point out a key fact which handcuffs labor, as the athletes themselves currently do not have the mechanism to unionize nationally. If there were to be a union representing the athletes (and possible sub-divisions of the union by sport and/or by college conference), the parties could enter into Collective Bargaining, and eventually reach an agreement which would serve the athletes with much better care and secure protections for an equal amount of time as the antitrust agreements for the NCAA and schools calls for in years.

No matter if the House takes a line item scissors to the Bill or even if Johnson decides to table the Bill until next year, there will be no changes in the college Football and Basketball operations of 2026-27. Chances are, we’ll be singing the same old college fight song for 2027-28, 2028-29 and 2029-30.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: “CBS Sports and Tony Romo have mutually agreed to part ways,” CBS Sports wrote in a statement. “We thank Tony for his contributions over the past nine years and wish him the best moving forward.”

Romo was tossed out the door at CBS Sports on Friday about 10 weeks after the broadcaster’s arrest for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Romo, a former Dallas Cowboys quarterback who had been the network’s lead NFL analyst since 2017, pleaded no contest to the civil charge in a Wisconsin court on Sept. 1.

“JJ Watt will continue to partner with Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson on our lead NFL announce team for the rest of the season. All other teams remain the same, including Ian Eagle, Ross Tucker and Evan Washburn.”

“I’m proud of what I accomplished at CBS Sports over the last nine years,” Romo said in a statement. “I approached my role as a game analyst the way I’ve approached everything in my life — with a desire to win and be the best that I can be. I’m going to use this time to take a break, something I’ve never done before, and focus on my health and my family before moving on to my next opportunity. I am grateful for my time with CBS Sports and for the continued support of my family and friends, as well as the NFL community and fans.”

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: Zeke Battier, out of Providence Day (NC) for the Class of ‘27, has committed to play college basketball at Harvard. Eye-brows were up here in Massachusetts as you’d think young Zeke would follow in his father’s footsteps to Duke. Instead, Shane Battier will be a sideline, backseat, parents’ view co-coach to Harvard head coach Tommy Amaker when Zeke debuts at The Ray Lavietes Basketball Pavilion in trhe Fall of ‘27.

Recruiting site Phenom Hoops of North Carolina has this to say: “A strong get for Harvard, as Battier brings an intriguing game but also is one that still has clear potential. Standing at 6-foot-7, Battier brings a fluid overall game, something he has shown for quite some time now. He is comfortable in operating from multiple levels, scoring inside and out in transition, runs the floor, can space the floor well with his perimeter game, but also can attack the rim off the bounce. Again though, he is one that we can clearly see has room for growth at the next level, which will make him an interesting prospect to follow.

“Battier is an exceptional three-point shooter who converts a very high percentage of his looks from beyond the arc. He’s also a smart passer who understands how to make the extra pass or effectively read the floor when attacking closeouts. However, he displayed a visible increase in toughness, creation skills, and ability off the bounce. Battier’s perimeter shooting is still his most valuable weapon, but his newfound confidence as a penetrator and finisher was undeniably intriguing. Having an elite shooter who can reliably attack closeouts and make intelligent decisions is an advantage for legitimately any team. Furthermore, Battier defended multiple positions and utilized his length to be disruptive in the passing lanes.”

SURPRISE! UConn and St. John’s are rated #1 and #2, respectively, by the BIG EAST Conference Coaches in a poll of their own men’s college basketball teams. The Hoyas and the Bulldogs – not so much.

WE’RE LIVE: Despite the burgeoning Sports Management offerings at the undergrad and grad levels of higher learning, there are very few “hands on” text books with first person narratives to hand down the real world experience to students. Joe Favorito’s “Sports Publicity” is already in its Fourth Edition and is a handbook for many a class, covering the Communications and Media side on the major. Now, “We’re Live” can cover the Broadcasting side as NBA broadcasting guru Ed Desser combined with his longtime friend and colleague in ESPN digital and Kosner Sports Media man John Kosner for the ultimate “go to” book for young people seeking to learn more about the very big business of sports media.

Ed Desser (left) and John Kosner at their book launch in Times Square, NYC

“We’re Live” launched this week with a special ‘invite only’ gathering of the very best in NYC sports media legends toasting good fortune to Desser and Kosner.

“Launch day for our book, “We’re Live!” was quite an experience,” Desser told me the day after the event. “Inside the big business of sports media, was magical. On Thursday, we took pictures at our Times Square billboard, watched book sales skyrocket on amazon.com, and had an amazing get together with a “Who’s Who of sports media” to celebrate the book launch.

“Particular thanks to Adam Silver, Marv Albert, and Eric Stern, former NBA Commissioner David Stern‘s son. Also a big shout out to Linda Tosi, David’s former assistant who graced us with her presence.

“There is a void in the marketplace on the subject of sports media business, and we hope to fill it with our book. Further information is available at Werelivebook.com or order a paperback or a Kindle version ($1.99) at amazon.com where it’s listed as #1 in Media and Communications Industry books.

While We’re Young (Ideas) is a weekly (every weekend) collection of Sports Notes and News written by Terry Lyons. The posting of each notebook harkens back to the days when you’d walk over to the city news stand on Saturday night around 10:00pm to pick-up a copy of the Sunday papers. Inside, just waiting, was a compilation of interesting sports notes, quotes and quips in a column that always sold a few newspapers. Wire Service reports are featured within the column.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes – Brought to you by Digital Sports Desk.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Sept 27

September 29, 2026 by Digital Sports Desk

By TERRY LYONS

FENWAY – Earlier this season, the Boston Red Sox were 9-19 at Fenway Park, and then the Olde Town Team fell to the depths of an end of June record of 17-27 at America’s Most Beloved Ballpark. At that point in time, playing the Red Sox was truly beloved by every visiting team.

Now, as the season ended and the Red Sox and Chicago Cubs traveled to Tampa-St. Pete to play their 162nd game of the season, the Sox left behind a 41-39 record at Fenway – a miraculous midseason turnaround. Boston won 18 of their final 30 series, including 10 of their final 16 home series, dating back to June 12.

On Friday, against the Chicago Cubs, Boston recorded its AL-leading 18th pitching shutout of the season and second of their last four games. They also shutdown Cleveland on Sept. 23rd. The Sox lead the AL but trail Philadelphia (19) for the MLB lead in shutouts. For Boston, it’s the second most shutouts in the Live-Ball Era (since 1920) behind 1972 when they registered 20.

Amongst the most miraculous of turn-arounds has been the season of Brayan Bello who was demoted to the minors earlier in the season but has bounced back in his 13 games (including three starts) since the All-Star break. Bello is 4-1 with a 2.12 ERA in 51 innings with 43 strikeouts.

On the offensive side, no Sox player has been more inconsistent than Jarren Duran. Dialing it back to 2023, Duran batted .295 (BA)/.346 OBP; In 2024, .285 (BA)/.342 OBP with career highs in At Bats – 671; Doubles 48 and Triples 14. He had a 20/20 season with Home Runs and Stolen Bases.

This year, Duran is batting .208 (BA)/.267 (OBP). While Duran registered another 20/20 season, his WAR (Wins Above Replacement) went from a luxurious 9.0 in ‘24 to a measly 0.6 this season. Duran’s season-long Runs Batting went from (31) in ‘24 to (-19) this season.

Looking ahead to a Wild Card series against the New York Yankees, this season Duran batted .211 in 38 At Bats. At least .211 > .208.

The streaks, stats and game scores over the course of 161 games, underlines the fact the Red Sox are about as inconsistent as a team can be. One month – invincible. Another – anemic. And, it’s not just Duran. It’s everyone.

Outfielder and leadoff man Roman Anthony had been sidelined for the vast amount of the season but has returned to his position in left (or DH) and on top of the Red Sox batting order and he’s been hot, including a three-for-four performance Friday by way of two doubles and a triple. After that, the Sox can’t put three hot bats together on any given night.

Since September 19, the Sox have lost games by the score of 2-1, 5-1, 3-2 and 1-0. That’s four runs in four key games. That noted, they head into the final game of the regular season with a three-of-four win streak.

Regarding the New York Yankees, the Red Sox lost three of four between August 28-30, splitting a doubleheader on the 29th. Back in late June, Boston took four straight between June 25 and June 28th. Those four wins began a run to take the Sox from a dismal 26-35 on June 4th to 64-51 on August 7th. That’s a 38-16 maneuver into playoff contention. It eventually locked the Sox into the No. 5 Wild Card seed, facing the Yankees (No. 4) while the No. 3 Houston Astros face the No. 6 Chicago White Sox.

The Red Sox will play New York in a best-of-three Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday (Sept. 29-Oct 1).

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The WNBA Playoffs begin Sunday, September 27 with a 30-minute WNBA Countdown (Presented by Google Pixel) at 1:30pm ET on ABC and streaming on the ESPN App, followed by a first-round doubleheader. At 2:00pm, Napheesa Collier and the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx, the No. 1 seed for the second consecutive year, host Breanna Stewart and the No. 8 New York Liberty in a rematch of the 2024 WNBA Finals. At 4 p.m., reigning WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson and the No. 3 Las Vegas Aces begin their title defense against Caitlin Clark and the No. 6 Indiana Fever.

ESPN is coming off its most-watched WNBA regular season ever as the league celebrated its 30th season. This season also marked the third straight year ESPN has delivered its most-viewed WNBA regular season on record. Across 29 games, the WNBA on ESPN networks averaged 1.37M viewers, up 17% year-over-year and ranking as ESPN networks’ most-viewed WNBA regular season on record. ESPN presented 17 games this season, averaging 1.24M viewers, up 32% year-over-year, while 12 games on ABC averaged 1.56M viewers, up 9% year-over-year.

WNBA Playoff games will be telecast by Prime Video, USA Network, CNBC, along with ESPN and ABC.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: The Travelers Championship recently announced that the 2026 tournament generated more than $5 million for 290 charities, setting record highs in both categories. Funds were distributed to representatives from participating nonprofits at the annual Travelers Championship Charity Celebration at TPC River Highlands.

Howie Singer, longtime producer and director for New York Knicks games on the MSG Network became the first television director to receive the prestigious Governors’ Award at the New York Sports Emmy Awards reception this past week. Singer began in the 1981-82 season and has worked Knicks games ever since. Along the way, he directed dozens of NBA Playoff games for Turner Broadcasting, produced and directed USA Basketball Showcase and Olympics/World Cup games, NBA Finals and NBA All-Star Games for the league’s World Feed.

Golden State’s Stephen Curry agreed to a two-year contract extension reportedly worth $116 million that would take him through the 2028-29 season. Curry was eligible to command up to $136 million, so he is giving his club a discount as he backs up his longstanding commitment to finish his career with the Warriors.

Gary Bettman will begin his 34th season as NHL Commissioner. The one time General Counsel of the NBA under then-Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik is now the longest-serving commissioner among the major North American sports leagues.

“We’re coming off a season of record revenues and record attendance, said Bettman to the Sports Business Journal. “Our ratings were through the roof in the United States, we’re over 80 national sponsors and we want to continue to first make sure the game maintains its entertaining, compelling nature because we’ve had a spectacular run on the ice.”

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Sept 20

September 20, 2026 by Digital Sports Desk

By TERRY LYONS, Editor in Chief of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Back in the 1970s, the weekly comedy show “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” would always incorporate a very simple segment within the show to change directions, usually to a rather bizarre topic. “And now, for something completely different” was the phrase and that theory incapsulates an attempt for this week’s column to bring a completely different series of notes, rather than the usual NFL, College Football, and Major League Baseball beat.

First up? It’s Horse Racing and the Grand Opening of the New Belmont Park in Elmont, New York – a stone’s throw away from the UBS Center, home ice for the New York Islanders. The new Belmont has a lengthy Fall meet, running from September 19 to December 6.

At this point, we’ve only seen the joint via artist renditions and a few new pictures provided by the New York Racing Association this week, but the “real thing” was unveiled this weekend and it looks gorgeous. New York State invested a ton of money to build the brand new horse racing track and it’s no minor renovation. It’s a complete do over.

A quick look for the facts had three different dollar figures listed under the first three stories referenced.

MSN.com – Listed the investment at $450 million
The Associated Press listed the price tag at $500 mil
The Albany Times-Union – a paper of the record for NYRA – wrote it’s $550m

As we did with many a Peter Vecsey “Inside the NBA” column back in the day, let’s trust the New York Post which listed the grandstand re-do at $455m. (The Daily News wrote $550m).

NYRA wrote of its own Grand Opening news on Friday, stating: “Following a three-year project to transform the home of the Belmont Stakes into a world-class sports and entertainment destination, a new Belmont Park opened its doors to welcome the return of racing to Long Island.

“Friday’s unveiling of the new Belmont Park commenced with a ribbon-cutting ceremony where New York State Governor Kathy Hochul joined NYRA officials and guests prior to the first race to unveil the modernized venue.”

“It’s an extraordinary time for racing fans from around the globe as we welcome them back to Belmont Park for the first time in three years,” Governor Hochul said. “Here on Long Island, the new Belmont Park is a state-of-the-art, world-class facility with brand new fan amenities and huge expansions in accessible green space. And the improvements go far beyond the grandstand, with four brand new racing surfaces that will host not just the return of the Belmont Stakes and the 2027 Breeders’ Cup, but year-round racing for the first time in the history of this iconic track.”

Aqueduct Raceway is now a thing of the past and Saratoga will return to its wonderful mid-summer meet, including the running of the great Travers Stakes. That leaves Belmont.

NYRA history was made on Friday with Race 1 going off at 1:30pm a 1 1/4-mile maiden special weight event for fillies and mares, 3-years-old and up, on the inner turf. The race was won by Andrew Rosen’s British homebred Lisa Joy for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. Jockey Antonio Fresu was aboard for the historical win.

McGaughey, a stalwart member of the New York racing community and winner of the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes in 1989 with Easy Goer, expressed his happiness to be back racing on Long Island.

“I think it’s a beautiful place,” he said. “It’s different than what I expected. We just need to get the kinks out and get the people in it and it’ll be really special. I think it’s going to be great when everything gets settled in. I’m really excited about it and I think the track is great. I like the turf, and I’ve been training on the main track, too, and it’s been great.”

Friday’s nine-race card race generated total wagering of $13,997,422.99.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The 2026 PLL season will come to a close (Sunday) September 20 with the championship game between the Denver Outlaws vs. Philadelphia Waterdogs. The game will be televised at 12:30pm (ET) on ABC and the ESPN app as it’s played at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.

ESPN’s Drew Carter will handle play-by-play duties with Paul Carcaterra and Ryan Boyle as analysts and Quint Kessenich reporting. Dana Boyle will be on site to host halftime coverage and the trophy presentation.

Denver delivered an 11-5 semifinal win over Utah, sprinting to a 9-1 halftime lead behind Brennan O’Neill, Pat Kavanagh and a defense anchored by Logan McNaney. Philadelphia’s CJ Kirst, Michael Sowers and Kyle Lewis, who scored his first career hat trick, helped send the Waterdogs to their first title game of the Bill Tierney era.

Previously, Tierney led the men’s lacrosse team at the University of Denver. He became the first college lacrosse coach to win an NCAA DI Championship for a school located west of the Eastern Time Zone. All totaled, he coached seven NCAA DI championship teams, including six at Princeton University and one at the University of Denver.

MOTOSPORTS: Keeping with the “completely different theme,” the Monster Energy SMX World Championship is in its second of a three week, season ending playoff. The 22 best riders on the circuit are competing on the world’s most challenging track that feature big air jumps, fast straightaways, technical rhythm sections, and elevation changes. An escalating points system allows the racers the opportunity to remain in the hunt for the championship trophy until the winner is crowned. World Champions Jett Lawrence and Jo Shimoda are trying to defend their titles against Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen, Haiden Deegan, Cole Davies and the rest of the field. The entire season comes down to this and next weekend.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: Election Day can not come fast enough. The election results are not the impetus for the wisg for the day to pass, but rather the need to rid ourselves of the New Hampshire Senatorial race advertisements plastered all over Boston TV channels. … Switchi ng gears, when a batter challenges a pitch and claims it’s a ball and the ABS system shows the entire baseball is within the strike zone, said batter should be ejected from the game.

A REMINDER FOR THOSE WHO VOTE: The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United Sates of America reads as follows:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Taken that a step deeper, it means: “News organizations and individuals can publish information and opinions freely without government interference.” … “It primarily stops the government from restricting these rights and protects journalists and media outlets as they have the right to investigate, criticize, and report on the government’s actions without fear of censorship or retaliation.”

This week, an authoritarian government official retaliated against CNN, Politico and MS Now TV and restricted access to the government of the USA as a whole.

All news media from all walks of coverage and life need to stand up and fight hard against a totalitarian government and unconstitutional acts. Individuals can exercise their rights and peacefully protest against these illegal actions and ultimately use their vote to vote out and reject those in power who act illegally.

In most cases, moves like those taken this week (Ban on media, or the Pentagon releasing its sixth batch of UFO files, and details on “secret military programs” of the past are blatant distractions to deflect coverage of the real news of the day.

THIS JEST IN: The Southeastern Conference stepped up to enforce its rules, regardless of the NCAA or other court rulings. Wrote the D-1 Ticker: The SEC announced it will enforce the following policy: “An SEC institution is not permitted to have an athlete on its roster who has: 1. previously declared for the NFL, NBA or WNBA Draft, and did not appropriately withdraw, 2. signed a contract with an NFL (or other professional football league), NBA/G-League, or WNBA (or affiliate) team, or 3. been listed on an NFL (or other professional football league), NBA/G-League, or WNBA (or affiliate) roster. The commissioner is authorized to enforce this expectation with penalties against member institutions.”

Let the lawsuits begin.

CAN’T MAKE IT UP: The NHL’s Boston Bruins open their 2026-27 season with a preseason game against the Washington Capitals on Sunday at 5:00pm at TD Garden. The New England Patriots kick-off at 1:00pm the same day and five NFL games start between 4:05 and 4:25pm.

TABLE FOR EIGHT: It’s so difficult to get a reservation for a table at Rao’s in NYC that a New York Yankees Foundation auction has a current bid of $17,000 and that’s just for a table of eight. It does not include the money for dinner-drinks-gratuities. Back in the UES neighborhood, we called it a “Table for None.”

While We’re Young (Ideas) – Sept 11th

September 13, 2026 by Digital Sports Desk

By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief of Digital Sports Desk

CHESTNUT HILL – Why do 25 years matter more than 11 years, or 23 years or 18? To most of us who were alive and kicking at the turn of the century, September 11th, 2001 was the single worst day of our lives. To most of us, there is no way the second worst day of our lives was anywhere near as bad as that horrible first day of school, blue sky September morning.

But, for those of us who called New York City home in 2001, the second worst day of our lives was September 12th, then 13th, then 14th – although starting on 9/12, there was a very different vibe developing. despite that supporting effort, it remained a horrible, a dull curve of terribleness, especially when the funerals came three times a day at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, 50 yards from my office door. It was a devastating, seemingly endless way of mourning.

The bagpipes. The widows. The families. The black hearses and limos – all lined up on Fifth Avenue from 50th to 51st Streets. Then, the 100s and 1000s of firefighters and police – many from out of state. – standing at attention in front of the church and all along the sidewalks. The same scene played out each and every day for the rest of September and into October and November and December. The last funeral was as horrible as the first. The bagpipes sounded out loudly and meaningfully, but the stoic, blank stares of shock, depression and desperation all remained intact – day after day, month after month.

Of course, the funerals were not all at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Rockefeller Center. They were held in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. They were staged at 8am, 11am, 1pm, or 3pm to allow the firefighters, police and brass to be able to attend every one of the services, or as many as physically possible. Funerals were staged on Staten Island and in Nassau and Suffolk counties, in Westchester and Rockland counties and Connecticut and in Jersey.

Three thousand funerals in churches up and down the east coast from Massachusetts to Virginia where the terrorist attacked took the lives of innocent workers at The Pentagon. There were memorials in Shanksville, Pennsylvania – population 199. It was Shanksville where United Flight 93 disintegrated into the ground as passengers who boarded the Boeing 757 at Newark International Airport in New Jersey, died in a valiant attempt to overtake the terrorists on board who were steering the airplane towards Washington D.C. rather than its scheduled destination of San Francisco International Airport in California.

Hockey great Garnet “Ace” Bailey, a former NHL player with the Bruins and then the Los Angeles Kings’ director of pro scouting, was aboard United Airlines Flight 175 with a colleague from his department.

Thus, there were funerals in the Bay area, and in LA and its Southern California suburbs for the victims who boarded American 11 and United 175 at Logan International in Boston, destined for Los Angeles but hijacked to their instantaneous deaths hitting the North and South Towers of the trade Center, respectively.

In the WTC buildings, there were workers from all over the world. All of different ages, of different occupations – some others just having breakfast at Windows on the World, a restaurant and conference center on the 106th/107th floors of the North Tower. That was a place I remember enjoying a special brunch treat upon my high school graduation in 1977. It had been open a year.

In all, people from 90 different countries perished and a rough estimate proved there were victims who practiced the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist faiths.

Individual stories of exactly where people witnessed the horrific news are as widely diverse as the victims and survivors themselves. Stories of those who took a day off and walked or drove their child to the first day of the 2001-02 school year are heartwarming but equally frightening from the ‘what ifs’ people still cope with on a daily basis. At least that’s how I felt, as I had just returned from the Goodwill Games (Brisbane, Australia) the night before and sat out on the various taxiways of JFK as thunderstorms had grounded all flights that Monday night. I believe it was only lack of fuel remaining on a Quantas Air Brisbane-Auckland-LAX-JFK flight allowed us an earlier landing as planes circled Kennedy and nearby LaGuardia airports on the night of September 10th. There was a NY Giants vs Denver Broncos Monday Night football game, televised from a then brand new Invesco Field at Mile High. Denver won, 31-20.

Jet lag from three weeks or more on the Pacific Rim had this columnist’s body clock wound backwards and awake that early morning, TVs blaring from an apartment at 91st Street, between 1st Ave and York, 5.8 miles away from Ground Hero as the crow flies. The helpless feeling of watching on TV unable to assist in any manner and being told to not go anywhere south of 14th Street in Manhattan was devastating, but there was a steady stream of southern Manhattan workers and residents walking 2-2 1/2 hours north to escape the chaos. It was quite clear there was a total lockdown ongoing downtown.

The only recourse, with a three year old and one year old in tow, was to walk to our local parish – St. Joseph’s in Yorkville – where we sat with a handful of parishioners in silence.

Afterward, we walked to the little park in front of Asphalt Green on York Avenue. Our daughters played on the swings and we sat together on park benches, lumps in our throats and still a feeling of helplessness. Jets circled Manhattan – F-15C Eagles from the 102nd Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, based at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod – and it was a sight I never thought I would see in my lifetime.

Fast forward a year, and I was sitting with some good friends as we conducted a Basketball w/o Borders camp in Europe and the day was done, a bite to be had with some great red wine and greater people. Some of the friends at the table rarely hung out with Americans and it was their first chance to ask a few questions, directed to a New Yorker who had lived on Manhattan island on the day of the attacks.

We told the story of the final day of the Goodwill Games, the flight to JFK, and the jet lag. Then watching everything occur in real time on September 11th, but on TV like everyone else in the world. Then, my true reaction and honest statement of “I never thought I’d see F-15s circling Manhattan Island and defending our Eastern Seaboard.”

Said one of our dear friends, the wife of Serbia’s hard-working coach Marin Sedlacek, to put it all in perspective; “Yeah, you should see those F-15 jets when they’re dropping bombs.”

To Put that remark in Context: The US and NATO conducted a bombing campaign in the former Yugoslavia that lasted 78 days, from March 24 to June 10, 1999. The US and its NATO allies intervened during the Kosovo War to force Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević to halt ethnic cleansing against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

“War. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.” – by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Each September 11 (or closest possible date), the Boston College Eagles honor the memory of a former student-athlete, Welles Crowther, by playing a game in tribute to the deceased BC lacrosse player, who graduated and turned commodities broker at Sandler O’Neill and Partners in NYC. After graduation, he worked on the 104th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

It took time, but the New York Times and Crowther’s mother put together the unimaginable moments of what the young man encountered in the final hour of his life on September 11, 2001.

UA 175 hit the South Tower at 9:03 that morning. Crowther called his mother from his office at 9:12, leaving the message, “Mom, this is Welles. I wanted you to know that I’m okay.” Afterward Crowther, a volunteer firefighter in training, made his way to the 78th-floor sky lobby, where he encountered a group of survivors, including a badly burned Ling Young, who worked on the 86th floor in New York’s Department of Taxation and Finance. Young had been among a group of people waiting at a bank of elevators to evacuate when the plane hit the tower.

Crowther, carrying a young woman on his back, directed them to the one working stairway. The survivors followed him 17 floors down, where he dropped off the woman he was carrying before heading back upstairs to assist others. By the time he returned to the 78th floor, he had a bandana around his nose and mouth to protect him from smoke and haze. A red bandana.

He found another group of survivors, which included AON Corp. employee Judy Wein (who worked on the 103rd floor) in pain from a broken arm, cracked ribs, and a punctured lung, all injuries coming from being tossed around after the initial impact of a Boeing 757 aircraft- flying 500 mph – hitting a standing structure. According to Wein, Crowther assisted in putting out fires and administering first aid. He then announced to that group, “Everyone who can stand, stand now. If you can help others, do so.”

As occupants of the Tower headed for the street, Crowther returned up the stairs to help others. He was last seen doing so with members of the FDNY before the South Tower collapsed at 9:59.

Amazingly, a mostly completed New York City firefighter application was discovered in his home after his death.

According to survivor accounts, Crowther saved as many as 18 people during the attacks.

Crowther’s family was unaware of his actions between his last phone call to his mother and his death, until Allison Crowther read Judy Wein’s firsthand account of being saved by a man in a red bandana in The New York Times in May 2002, eight months after the Towers fell.

Allison then met with the people Welles had saved, including Wein and Young, and they confirmed his identity through photographs.

In 2006, Crowther was posthumously named an honorary New York City firefighter by Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. That same year, Crowther’s Boston College lacrosse teammate, Tyler Jewell, wore a red bandana in honor of Crowther when he competed as a member of the United States snowboarding team in the 2006 Winter Olympics.

On September 13, 2014, Boston College played the University of Southern California and the team wore uniforms symbolizing Crowther’s red bandana, including a helmet stripe, cleats and gloves with a red bandana pattern. Somehow, someway, BC defeated then No. 9 USC Trojans, 37-31, before a sellout crowd in Chestnut Hill. It was a miracle – a Miracle!

This Friday, BC defeated Rutgers, 28-21. The Red Bandana game lives on. – Forever.

BOSTON COLLEGE: What is the Red Bandana Game. Watch THIS to find out.

THE POINT: A flight home from Australia draped with USA Basketball gear, t-shirts and sweatshirts was met with devastation of the USA on the very next day, as noted above. After the shock of 9/11, and the realization there were pictures of the missing victims seemingly everywhere you looked, along with empty wheelchairs at the hospitals and news of very few survivors, it was only a feeling of emptiness that prevailed.

Lost.

The shock, confusion and mourning stretched some ten more days and the timeline shifted to returning to daily routines. Late Night TV comedians had been preempted and the studios were all dark. Professional and college sports came to an immediate halt, and that meant the weekend of NFL football was scrapped on September 15-16.

On September 21, 10 days after the attacks, Major League Baseball returned to New York City as the New York Mets hosted the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium. The game served as a signal to get back. As the game progressed, Shea Stadium came to life, but the Mets trailed the Atlanta Braves, 2-1, in the bottom of the eighth. Edgardo Alfonzo drew a walk and there was one out as catcher Mike Piazza stepped up to the plate.

Piazza hit a baseball about as hard as a baseball can be hit. He took a second to watch it fly. It was a two-run home run to give the Mets a 3-2 lead that would stand up for the win. Shea Stadium’s loyal fans erupted with joy. It was okay to smile again.

Sports did that.

A month later, the New York Yankees had advanced to the World Series and were facing the Arizona Diamondbacks. At Game 3, played on October 30, 2001, President George W. Bush was asked to throw out the first pitch. There was considerable angst for the stadium security and NYPD. That angst was replaced with joy when President Bush zipped a rope-like fastball right across the plate.

Sports did that.

Ten days before the Series, the Concert for New York was staged at a sold-out Madison Square Garden, packed with the FDNY and NYPD survivors and the families of the deceased. Pictures of loved ones were held high. There were hugs and tears, and then The Who played four of their best songs.

“Who Are You”
“Baba O’Riley”
“Behind Blue Eyes”
“Won’t Get Fooled Again”

The Garden can rock, but it had never rocked like it did during that four-song set.

Music did that.

In between sets at the show, actors and comedians were asked to introduce some of the families who lost a loved one or just a group of fire fighters releasing some pent up emotion.

One of those skits was comedian (and actor) Adam Sandler doing his “Operaman” routine from Saturday Night Live.

It was hysterical and he stole the entire show.

Comedy did that.

Sports. Music. Comedy. That’s what brought us back, along with a ton of hugs and tears shared with our loved ones. It was a time to hug the kids a little bit tighter and a little bit longer before the bedtime routine.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Sept. 6

September 6, 2026 by Digital Sports Desk

Alumni Stadium at Boston College (Photo by T. Peter Lyons)

By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief of Digital Sports Desk

CHESTNUT HILL – After an NCAA Week 0, which included an eyebrow-raising North Carolina (with Coach Big Bill Belechick) win over perennial power TCU and a shocking UMass victory over Big TEN doormat Rutgers, it’s time for the 2026 College Football season. The first “real” Saturday of the season came fast upon us and the results will be unfolding as this column is created (September 5).

This column will rely upon experts such as Phil Steele and his incredible preseason magazine to ESPN pundits to VSiN experts and a few early observations from the brand new armchair placed just yesterday in the Lyons’ den.

Only a handful of early afternoon and a few early evening games are in the scorebooks as of the time of writing. Some early impressions?

Boston College barely made a showing in a 34-15 dismantling by Cincinnati
The powerhouse Top 25 schools mostly saw typical one-sided scores over weak opponenents with the exception of a back-and-forth Oregon win over Boise St. (34-27).
A primetime Clemson v. LSU game was delayed because of weather.
The non-NFL Labor Day weekend bodes well for the schedule. Sunday, September 6 boasts three top notch games, including: Washington St. at Washington, Wisconsin at Notre Dame and Louisville at Ole Miss.

Looking further down the road, there’s some interesting buckets of information tucked into the Phil Steele annual. Consider a few that struck a chord and have been filed away as the season progresses:

Steele’s 2026 Toughest Schedule – Top 10

Texas
Michigan
USC
Arkansas
Oklahoma
Ohio St.
Michigan St.
Mississippi St.
Purdue
Florida

Steele’s Surprise Teams for 2026

Alabama
BYU
Oklahoma
USC
Utah
SMU
Clemson
Louisville
Iowa
Houston

Steele’s POWER Ten Teams for 2026

Notre Dame
Oregon
Georgia
Ohio St.
Texas
Indiana
Oklahoma
Mississippi
Miami (FL)
USC

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: After serving more than seven years as WNBA Commissioner, Cathy Engelbert announced her plan to step down at the end of 2026. The announcement came after severe criticism of the WNBA leadership team, mostly coming from the rank and file WNBA players.

Engelbert led the WNBA through very important times. Among her major accomplishments:

Leading the WNBA with the WNBA Players Association to formulate a monumental collective bargaining agreement that will govern the league from its inception in 2026 through 2032.
Navigating the league through a season in a bubble during COVID-19.
Leading the WNBA efforts for its current, blockbuster and record-setting television and media arrangments. The term runs from 2026-2036 aqnd will generate $2.2 billion from Disney/ABC/ESPN platforms, NBC Universal and Amazon. An additional $281m annually ($3.1 billion) will come from auxillary deals with USA Network, ION and CBS Paramount. The deals will be analyzed in 2028 for possible adjustments.
Overseeing the WNBA during unprecedented growth of teh league, including record interest to follow the career of Caitlin Clark.

The burning question surfacing in each and every story of Englebert’s retirement is the uncertain succession plan to name a new WNBA Commissioner. In columns and other media reports, speculation has run the gamut of naming recently retired players, like Swin Cash to sitting Governors (Maura Healy of Massachusetts) to former First Lady Michele Obama.

While they’re all great suggestions, it’s more likely the successor to Englebert will come from either an all-out executive search committee, an internal candidate at the WNBA or a team, or someone currently working in the sports industry. Regardless, it will take time.

The most feasible move for the NBA and WNBA is to lure recently retired Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman back to her old stomping grounds – even if it’s just for a six month interim basis.

Ackerman was the WNBA’s first executive leader, then titled President. Ackerman oversaw the lead-up to the WNBA launch – a year-long barnstorming by the USA Basketball women’s senior national team, leading into the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. It served as the perfect launchpad for the WNBA in the summer of 1997.

Ackerman’s calming presence would be welcomed by both management (WNBA Board) and players. Since the season runs from May until October (2027), the stabilization of the organization between January and June will be an important window of time.

There’s no question, Val Ackerman can get the job done and then sail off to a happy retirement sunset, maybe with a few million dollars from a thankful NBA-WNBA organization together with its players.

Just in case you aren’t familiar with her illustrious career, here’s a quick look via a recent edition of The Sports Business Journal. The SJ paid tribute to her amazing career with a full length story and a sidebar of her accomplishments. WWYI took the liberty to snip Val’s year-by-year C.V., including her education and sports industry high points:

The Val Ackerman File

Born: Nov. 7, 1959, Lakewood Township, NJ

Education: University of Virginia, B.A., political and social thought (1981), basketball, two-time Academic All-American; UCLA, law degree (1985)

Family: Husband, Charlie Rappaport; two daughters, Emily and Sally

Boards: NCAA Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee, member; Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, board of directors; Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, lifetime trustee

The Work of Art:

1981: Union Cosnoise Sportive Basket, player in France
1985-87: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, corporate and banking associate
1988: NBA, staff attorney
1989: USA Basketball, board of directors
1990: NBA, special assistant to the commissioner; later named vice president of business affairs
1992: USA Basketball organizational liaison at the 1992 Olympics; later has same role for 1994 Worlds and 1996 Olympics
1996: WNBA, president (league’s first); guided the league’s launch the following year
1999: College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America Hall of Fame, inductee
2002: Atlantic Coast Conference 50th Anniversary Women’s Basketball Team
2005: USA Basketball, president (4-year term)
2005: Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, member
2005: Women’s Basketball Coaches Association President’s Citation
2006: U.S. representative for men’s and women’s basketball on the Central Board of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA); named to a second term in 2010
2008: John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
2008-13: NCAA, consultant
2012: National Consortium for Academics and Sports Hall of Fame (now called Institute for Sport & Social Justice)
2013: Big East commissioner (as the college conference split from what became the AAC conference of “football schools.”
2013: USA Basketball’s Edward S. Steitz Award for contributions to international basketball
2013: Big East signed 12-year deal with Fox Sports worth $500 million
2014: NCAA Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee, member
2014: Led the relocation of the Big East’s headquarters from Providence, RI to its current site in New York City
2014: Launched Big East Digital Network (BEDN)
2016: Women’s Sports Foundation’s Billie Jean King Contribution Award
2017: U.S. Soccer Federation, at-large board member
2018: Big East and Madison Square Garden signed agreement to keep The Garden as the home of the Big East men’s basketball tournament through 2028
2019: Led negotiations resulting in the University of Connecticut’s return to the Big East, effective 2020
2019: Co-chair of the NCAA Federal and State Legislation Working Group
2020: Oversaw and navigated Big East’s response to COVID-19 epidemic
2021: Naismith Memorial Basketball of Fame, inductee
2023: Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, inductee
2024: Big East entered into a successor media rights agreement through 2031 on multiple platforms – Fox Sports, NBC/Peacock and TNT Sports
2024: Conference and MSG extended venue agreement, keeping the Garden as the home of the Big East men’s tournament through 2032
2024: Sports Lawyers Association Michael Weiner Award of Excellence
2025: Conference entered six-year agreement with ESPN to provide broad coverage of additional Big East competitions on the ESPN+ platform
2025: Big East and Playfly Sports extended multimedia rights partnership through 2031
2026: Big East announced a three-year extension with Mohegan Sun Arena to serve as host of the women’s basketball tournament
2026: Announced planned retirement as Big East commissioner, effective Aug. 31

Will 2027 see Ms. Ackerman return to 645 Fifth Avenue and guide the reestablishment of the WNBA league office while searching for the next WNBA Commissioner?

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: all basketball fans recall the 2000 Olympics and 2002 Worlds and the coming out party for Yao Ming and “The Great Wall of China.” It was an amazing time to see the athletic and versatile 7-foot-6, 310 lbs center play for his national team and eventually the Houston Rockets.

The WNBA might be awaiting a similar story as the possibilities are endless.

China’s Zhang Ziyu – a 7-foot-3 center – is playing for the Chinese women’s national team at the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Berlin. She is among 70 current and former WNBA players dotting rosters. In fact, 15 of the 16 teams competing for the FIBA World Cup for women have a WNBA player on their rosters.

If you remember, Zheng Haixia was the first player from China to play in the WNBA. She was on the opening night roster of the Los Angeles Sparks.

Guinness Dublin barrel lot — Photo by Jessica Johnston on Unsplash

YOU CAN’T MAKE IT UP: British police are trying to recover 70,000 pints of stolen Guinness stout. Two trailer truckloads of the creamy dark suds, valued at 115,000 pounds ($155,000), were stolen from a depot near Liverpool in northwest England, the Cheshire Constabulary reported Thursday. “It is famously said that ‘Guinness is good for you,’ but that is only the case when it has been bought and paid for,” Det. Sgt. Gary McClatchy said. “We will settle for nothing less than the full recovery of all the items stolen.” The Guinness had been destined for pubs, but was snatched Monday night by two drivers who pulled up to an industrial park in Runcorn and hauled away the trailers containing about 800 barrels of stout.

The Guinness caper comes only weeks after a theft of Pabst Blue Ribbon lager from a Southern California warehouse, valued at $70,000. The company offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the recovery.

TL’s Sunday Notes | August 30

August 31, 2026 by Digital Sports Desk

By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief, Digital Sports Desk (and former head of NBA International Communications)

ISTANBUL – Attending a Basketball without Borders camp for the first time since 2005 (Basketball w/o Borders – Asia (Beijing as host) with Yao Ming is making quite an impression on one former NBA International staffer. The B w/o B camp concept, created in 2000-2001, and staged in Summer of 2001 (in Treviso, Italy), was done in conjunction with the United Nations. The UN’s Zach Messite played a significant role and approached us (the NBA) with hopes to create a program to encourage healthy living amongst the youth of the world.

That evolved into a sports diplomacy mission as well, with the 2001 camp re-uniting players of five former Yugoslavian provinces via each region sending their top players to be instructed by the likes of Vlade Divac (Serbian) and Toni Kukoc (Croatian). The players had not been on speaking terms since playing as one team at the 1990 FIBA Worlds, a tournament they won. The war erupted and divided the nation znd the players.

We (at the NBA) did our small part in re-uniting them.

Pivoting from the “Doctors Without Borders” program already being run, Messite came up with the idea of “Basketball without Borders.” Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik gave the green light and we were off to the event planning stages. For PR and my staff back then, Helen Wong carried the torch. On Basketball Ops, it was Kim Bohuny and Bret MacTavish. NBAE, Security and NBA events staff plugged in and it was “on.”

At the time, the NBA was already working on the continent of Africa and was staging a camp tagged “Africa 100.” It was a “no-brainer” to rename that effort and the NBA began a continent-by-continent approach to staging the camps, eventually adding The Americas and Asia.

This year, the concept changed to bring the world to Istanbul with the top player prospects all in one place.

FIBA is instrumental in helping to identify the best and most deserving players without allowing any politics to get into the choices. The FIBA U-17 World Championships and their qualifiers also help scout the up & coming players.

Fast forward 25 years and the stats are staggering … check it out!

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: This year’s camp is happening because of the following NBA and FIBA players/coaches/trainers all volunteering their time:

NBA Players

Dominick Barlow – Philadelphia 76ers, USA

Saddiq Bey – New Orleans Pelicans, USA

Thomas Bryant – Cleveland Cavaliers, USA

Bub Carrington – Washington Wizards, USA

Brook Lopez – LA Clippers, USA

Khris Middleton – Washington Wizards, USA

Jalen Suggs – Orlando Magic, USA

Jabari Walker – Philadelphia 76ers, USA

NBA Coaches and Personnel

Kenny Atkinson – Cleveland Cavaliers, USA

Caron Butler – Miami Heat, USA

Dahntay Jones – LA Clippers, USA

Jannero Pargo – Indiana Pacers, USA

Lamar Skeeter – Charlotte Hornets, USA

Greg St. Jean – Los Angeles Lakers, USA

Ekpe Udoh – Atlanta Hawks, USA (ties to Nigeria)

James White – Minnesota Timberwolves, USA

NBA and FIBA Legends

Vlade Divac – NBA and FIBA Legend, Serbia

Danilo Gallinari – NBA and FIBA Legend, Italy

Camp Directors

Chris Ebersole – Los Angeles Lakers USA

Prosper Karangwa – Philadelphia 76ers, Canada/Rwanda

Adam Simon – Miami Heat, USA

Mike Zarren – Boston Celtics, USA

Strength and Conditioning Personnel

Isaiah West – Brooklyn Nets, USA

Emily Zaler – Philadelphia 76ers, USA

Athletic Trainers

Dan Shimensky – Denver Nuggets, USA

Casey Smith – New York Knicks, USA

The Blue Mosque along the Bosphorus River (Europe/Asia)

That list is an amazing combination of people who are all spending their time in the No. 1 world class city of Istanbul – which happens to be home HQ for our NBA Basketball School – Türkiye. To say the synergy is working would be an understatement.

Now consider these historical numbers for B w/o B:

B w/o B has been a platform for more than 4,900 participants from 149 countries and territories since 2001.
As of 2026, there are 155 former campers advancing to the NBA or WNBA.
The NBA and FIBA have staged 86 B w/o B camps in 56 cities across 36 countries on six continents.
More than 50 former B w/o B campers were among the record 135 international players on opening-night rosters last season, including 2026 NBA All-Stars Deni Avdija (Portland Trail Blazers; Israel; B w/o B Europe 2018; B w/o B All-Star 2019), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander(Oklahoma City Thunder; Canada; B w/o B All-Star 2016), Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets; Canada; B w/o B All-Star 2015) and Pascal Siakam (Indiana Pacers; Cameroon; B w/o B Africa 2012).

The Players participating as campers here in Istanbul are the Top 78 17-year old men’s players in the world. The NBA stages similar camps for women, including a wonderful annual event at the NBA All-Star Game.

Jose Dias – Angola

Facundo Mathieu – Argentina

Enzo Roth – Argentina

Riak Akhuar – Australia

John Aryang – Australia

Yahya Basaran – Australia

Antonio Browne – Australia

William Troy Hamilton – Australia

Manu Agbason – Azerbaijan

Hassan Oshobuge Abdulkadir – Bahrain

Aaron Ona Embo – Belgium

Imran Subasic – Bosnia

Lucas Moro – Brazil

Victor Santos – Brazil

Isaiah Clarke – Canada

Noah D’Acre – Canada

Kenyon St. Louis – Canada

Kingston Thomas – Canada

Boran Yue – China

Zhanfeng Zhou – China

Marek Houska – Czech Republic

Martin Sibal – Czech Republic

Martin Simko – Czech Republic

Neora Francis Ossete Toly – Democratic Republic of the Congo

Lucas Troels-Smith – Denmark

Malvin Duran – Dominican Republic

Robert Kangur – Estonia

Mathias Fabien – France

Messi Yangala – France

Mansour Bayo – The Gambia

Mamadou Samba – The Gambia

Herbert Roland Senghore – The Gambia

Lucai Anderson – Germany

Paul Plato – Germany

Caspar Vossenberg – Germany

Angelos Zoupas – Greece

Vince Gaspar – Hungary

Lapo Santini – Italy

Minty Jean-Philippe Dylan Oka – Ivory Coast

Gabrielius Buivydas – Lithuania

Jokubas Kukta – Lithuania

Kristupas Sabeckas – Lithuania

Luca Balducci – Mexico

Yair Olano – Mexico

Luka Malovic – Montenegro

Marko Popovic – Montenegro

Tawhiri Cate – New Zealand

Liam Keogh – New Zealand

Zach Rampton – New Zealand

Justin Akengbowa – Nigeria

Kalu Miracle Ebubechukwu – Nigeria

Prince Carino – Philippines

Lukasz Lysek – Poland

Miguel Sousa – Portugal

Dwight Gaines – Puerto Rico

Ameer Hausawi – Qatar

Azam Yakan – Qatar

Serigne Saliou Mbodji – Senegal

Petar Bjelica – Serbia

Matija Lukic – Serbia

Ognjen Simjanovski – Serbia

Lun Jarc – Slovenia

Taejoon Park – South Korea

Emmanuel Aguer Majak – South Sudan

Eghosa Odeje – Spain

Troy Hilamani Kaufusi – Tonga

Abderahmen Bouguerra – Tunisia

Adem Rafrafi – Tunisia

Besir Briant – Turkey

Darius Karutasu – Turkey

Ruzgar Opcun – Turkey

Demir Ozturk – Turkey

Omer Sik – Turkey

Dmytro Datsenko Ukraine

Oliver Bishop – United Kingdom

Maxx Tjongondjoza – United Kingdom

Kevin Gutierrez – Venezuela

Julio Vasquez – Venezuela

Remember those names, maybe to be seen at an NBA or college basketball arena near you someday soon.

And, remember Matija Lukic – Serbia who won the “Kim Bohuny” MVP award.

Packed house at Türkiye Basketball Federation’s gym (Photo by T. Peter Lyons)

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: What’s the new motto! – “When in Istanbul, attend a FIBA World Qualifying Tournament game!” – That big game was played Friday night at 9:00pm (local) and it coincided with FIBA World Cup qualifying games being played all over the world.

Türkiye drubbed Lithuania, 94-66, after jumping out to a 27-13 1st Quarter lead and they never looked back.

For the USA Basketball qualifying squad, the venue was in Chile and the USA Men’s World Cup Qualifying (Window 4) Team handling their business in front of a capacity crowd in Santiago, 89-71.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes – August 23

August 26, 2026 by Digital Sports Desk

By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief, Digital Sports Desk

Editor’s Note: This is an all-out plea for the readers of the column to stick with this one. It weaves some Lyons family history, memories of the ‘60s and early ‘70s, the golden age of airplane travel, and then goes full circle to the NBA and many a wonderful travel experience all over the world.

Saturday night readers might park this one for Sunday morning and a cup of coffee to take time to read it in full. My thanks for indulging some glorious TL reminiscing.

LOGAN AIRPORT (Boston) – The various airline advertising slogans remain clear in my mind. Maybe the most memorable was New York Knicks announcer Marv Albert proclaiming Eastern Airlines as – “The Wings of Man.” Another great one was, “Fly the Friendly Skies of United.” or you could “Fly the American Way.” or later “We’re American Airlines Doing What We Do Best.”

A good seat behind home plate at Shea Stadium gave fans a view of the “Serval Zippers” sign and about 100 yards away was a flashing Delta Airlines sign that proclaimed “FLY DELTA ATLANTA” and “FLY DELTA CHICAGO” or a few other great American cities. Of course, you might remember a catchy slogan that reminded travelers, “Delta Is Ready When You Are.”

My father worked for Pan American World Airways, as did my older brother years later. Pan American was known as the “World’s Most Experienced Airline” and later stated “Pan Am Makes the Going Great.”

There’s no doubt, the Madison Avenue ad agencies did a great job for a highly competitive industry. At that point in time, Pan Am and Trans World Airways (TWA) were the two USA-based airlines flying worldwide routes. Pan Am did not have any domestic routes until it flew to Los Angeles in the 1980s as a way of serving the South Pacific and Pacific Rim.

I can vividly remember going down to JFK to either drop my Dad off or pick him up from an international business trip (often to/from Frankfurt, Germany, a major inventory control hub for the airline, servicing aircraft in Europe.

On those trips to the Pan Am Worldport – a brand new terminal at JFK, away from the fray of the International Arrivals Building – we had our way exploring the entire terminal and covering every inch of the circular, space age, flying saucer look of an airline terminal stacked with 747s as far as the eye could see.

Security was not as extensive as it is today, so a 12 year old boy could stroll through the entire terminal, gazing at all the destinations Pan Am served, and because of the flying privileges provided to immediate family of a Pan Am employee, we could grab our U.S. Passports and fly to every city across the globe. You name it: Mexico City, London, Paris, Cologne, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Tokyo, Osaka, Calcutta, Prague, Nairobi, Moscow, Beirut, Tehran or Istanbul. (I’ve been to 14 of the 20 listed).

But, wait? Did you say Istanbul?

Yes, late Sunday night I’ll be boarding Turkish Air Flight 82 from Boston to Istanbul to assist with a week’s worth of work for the NBA Basketball School – Türkiye which will coincide (and run side-by-side) with Basketball Without Borders, an incredible joint-venture staged by the NBA and FIBA.

The details of this specific Basketball w/o Borders can be found in the league’s official press announcement – HERE. There is a major difference between this camp and many of the others conducted as far back as 2001. Rather than staging camps continent by continent, the 2026 version will bring approximately 80 players from all around the world to one location – Basketbol Gelişim Merkezi – in Istanbul. NBA and FIBA players do one-to-one training, and the 17-year old prospects are instructed with shooting drills, movement efficiency, skill development stations, 3-on-3 competitions, life-skills seminars, and 5-on-5 game competition.

The NBA Basketball School – Türkiye – which runs 365 days a year throughout the entire country, shows campers (boys/girls – ages 6+) the NBA way of training and skill development.

Next week’s column will underline some of the highlights from the camps, which begin on Wednesday, August 26.

To tie this column opener in a bow, it is very important to me to show appreciation for the privilege of traveling to countries and experiencing cultures all around the world. Those less fortunate sometimes are unable to leave their town, county or state. But, as part of a wonderful family, complete with unlimited Pan Am flight benefits, I was able to travel the world.

Then, at the NBA, the serious traveling came about – and I don’t mean the kind called by recent Hall of Fame inductee Joe Crawford. Yes, that little round basketball brought us all to places we’d never even dreamt of seeing. Friendships were built, right on the hardwood, and both the memories and the friendships seem to be everlasting.

So, indulge me for a second as I list a few of those sights and memories – stream of consciousness style. These are all things I never dreamt of seeing and visited them because of the NBA, Basketball w/o Borders, USA Basketball, and the FIBA Worlds and Olympic Games. Here’s just a few:

The site of the road into Jerusalem on a ride from Tel Aviv.
Standing in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 2004 and 2005 having experienced the very first NBA China Games and the first NBA Basketball w/o Borders – Asia with Yao Ming but thinking of what took place right there, 15 years prior in a 1989 uprising. I could visualize the never-identified protestor staring down four tanks in the middle of Chang’an Avenue. (I did a video greeting for Ed Desser’s NBA retirement party right there, and we were chased away by security).
First glimpse of the Acropolis at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. You turn one corner downtown, and it’s there.
Anytime and every time riding through the streets of London, Paris or Rome and seeing Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, or the Colosseum.
Prior to NBA travel, setting foot just barely across the border from West Germany to East Germany where barbed wire fences lined the perimeter of East Germany as far as the eye could see.
That first step into Red Square and the sight of a stunning St. Basil’s Cathedral (The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed).
Cruising Sydney Harbor with the sight of the Olympic Rings adorning Sydney Harbour Bridge, the famous Sydney Opera House right there in living color.
The all-out beauty of the City of Bruges in Belgium.
And, personal favorites before my BIG favorite: Montjuïc in Barcelona, the beaches of Maui, Montauk and Chatham, Massachusetts, Wrigley Field in Chicago, the Gold Coast along the shore in Australia, not far from Brisbane, the beauty of Prague, the tremendous dinners in Milan and Bologna, catching NHL games in Toronto and Montreal, the airport approach with the city of Vancouver glistening to your side, holding theatre tickets to a show and walking to the West End of London, the beautiful blue waters of the Caribbean, the sight of freshly picked cucumbers and tomatoes in Suhumi, Russia, or Tiblisi, Republic of Georgia, or Vilnius, Lithuania, walking the entirety of the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, seeing Mount Fuji in the distance in Japan, the glaciers of Alaska upon landing on a one-stop to Asia, the views from a hotel room window staring out at Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, visting a U.S. Army base on the North Korean border, standing in Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Square and walking into St. Peter’s Basilica, the site of The Last Supper painting in Milan, standing on The Great Wall of China, a walk through Mexico City’s historic district and Zócalo Square, which leads me to my favorite, to be experienced this week …
A boat ride up the Bosphorus River in Istanbul from Europe into Asia … last experienced with Bill and Lori Walton in the Summer of 2004 on the way to the Athens Olympics. There’s nothing like seeing the Blue Mosque, then the Bosphorus Bridge, now known as 15 July Martyrs Bridge.

I’ll be thinking about Bill, Rest in Grateful Peace.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: After that lengthy stroll around the globe, there’s a nice surprise awaiting the readers of “The Column,” also known as “While We’re Young (Ideas).

Last weekend, there was quite a tribute to the NBA’s Leah Wilcox in this space, as Ms. Wilcox – we’ll call her Leah – was the very worthy recipient of the John Bunn Award – the Basketball Hall of Fame’s highest honor, just this side of enshrinment.

There are several other people who deserve mention and equal tribute in the column. I mentioned Joey Crawford, but how about Mike “The Czar of the Telestrator” Fratello, a dear friend and traveling companion to all parts of Russia and Lithuania.

There was one inductee who deserves special mention. He was inducted as a contributor, but he could’ve been honored for his pro playing career for Olimpia Milano or his European coaching achievements or – maybe most importantly – for changing the game of basketball forever when he coached in the NBA.

Yes, Mike D’Antoni, a very close friend along with his wife, Laurel, was honored in Springfield, and I was lucky enough to catch up with them at the Mohegan Sun (Connecticut) the night before at the Hall’s family “gala,” a much less formal event.

This columnist was all geared up to pay tribute to Mike, then along came an outstanding piece from NBA great (GM, Asst GM, PR man, USOC rep and all around wonderful guy) Tommy Sheppard, and with his permission I’m passing it along.

He wrote: “Some people win in the game. A rare few actually change the game. Mike D’Antoni did both.

Congratulations to the entire Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026:

Joey Crawford

Mark Few

Doc Rivers

Amar’e Stoudemire

Elena Delle Donne

Chamique Holdsclaw

Candace Parker

Mike D’Antoni

and the 1996 United States Women’s National Team.

Every one of them has a story worthy of Springfield.

This class is especially meaningful to me because of Mike D’Antoni and his family.

Mike and I first crossed paths when he came to work with the Denver Nuggets. More than 25 years later, I am fortunate to count him as a very close friend. Knowing Mike and his family for all these years has given me an even greater appreciation for everything he has accomplished — and for the person he is away from the court.

Long before “pace and space” became part of basketball’s everyday vocabulary, Mike saw the game differently.

And he had the courage to coach it differently.

His Phoenix Suns teams changed basketball.

“Seven Seconds or Less” was about pace, spacing, shooting and decision-making. Steve Nash pushed the ball, Amar’e Stoudemire attacked the rim, and Mike trusted his players to play fast, make reads, and share the ball.

The results speak for themselves: 253–136 (.650) in Phoenix, four straight seasons with at least 54 wins, two Western Conference Finals appearances, and NBA Coach of the Year in 2005. He won the award again with Houston in 2017.

Spanning 16 seasons as an NBA head coach, Mike won 672 regular-season games and another 54 in the playoffs.

But his basketball story is so much bigger than his NBA coaching record.

Mike played professionally in the NBA and ABA before becoming a legend with Olimpia Milano, winning five Italian championships and two European Cups during a remarkable 13-year playing career.

He also represented his country as an assistant coach with USA Basketball, helping Team USA bring home the gold at the 2008 Olympics, 2010 FIBA World Championship, and 2012 Olympics.

That is quite a basketball journey.

NBA. ABA. Italy. USA Basketball. Player. Coach. Innovator, and now: Hall of Famer.

And yet, for those of us who know Mike and his family, the wins and awards only tell part of the story.

Mike has always been generous with his time, his knowledge, and his friendship. He loves the game, loves talking about the game and has never stopped looking for a better way to play it.

That curiosity helped change basketball.

Look around the game today — pace, space, early offense, shooting, smaller lineups and giving players the freedom to make decisions — and Mike D’Antoni’s fingerprints are everywhere.

Congratulations to Mike, Laurel and the entire D’Antoni family. I could not be happier for all of you.

And congratulations to every member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026.

What a well-deserved honor.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: This column and its sister-pub, “PGA Tour Brunch” follow the game of professional golf as close as anyone not traveling every stop on the Tour. That said, if you can figure out and share what the PGA TOUR office and – for that matter – the LIV Golf conglomerate – have in mind for the 2027 season, please let us all know.

There once was a promise to return to the Greater Boston area with a tournament every other year. After the Deutsche Bank Championship became the Dell Technologies Championship became The Northern Trust and moved to Liberty National in New Jersey for a year, men’s pro golf returned to TPC Boston for its last go ‘round.

Now, thankfully, the LPGA makes a stop at TPC Boston for the FM Championship – No Static at All – from August 27-30th.

But, as the Tour re-shuffled its priorities, its Playoffs, its Signature events, and a new system to get to the ever-changing FedEx Cup Playoffs, the Greater Boston area was left off the list. New England’s lone Tour event remains at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut – a stone’s throw from Hartford.

That is a wonderful event, but Boston deserves better as the Labor Day weekend tournament of yesteryear has faded away, like a Cape Cod sunset in late September.

By the way, two tournaments in the great State of Hawaii are gone, too.

It’s a cryin’ shame – a quadruple bogey.

While We're Young Ideas

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Oct 25

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Oct 18

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Oct 11

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Oct. 4th

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Sept 27

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Sept 20

While We’re Young (Ideas) – Sept 11th

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Sept. 6

TL’s Sunday Notes | August 30

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes – August 23

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